Bone of Demon
by krystald203
Summary: Rachel finds a curse that may allow Ivy to keep her soul after she dies. Will it work?


I leaned over my marble counter, squinting at the list of tools to make sure I really had everything I needed to get the curse right this time. I had everything on the list, why wasn't it working? As I glanced over at the directions Al had scribbled out for me, I had a sudden thought that he was playing with me - maybe this whole curse was a fake. Looking over the directions more thoroughly, I pushed my suspicions aside. Even if I was probably right to doubt Al's motives, I had to try it at least once more. Ivy was counting on me.

Ivy sighed, probably because of how long this was taking. It looked simple at first glance, how was I supposed to know I'd have trouble getting things started? At least she stopped asking so many questions, resolving to sit on the counter across the room, well out of the way after my irritability started to show. Pushing myself off the counter and feeling slightly self-conscious at Ivy's curious gaze, I moved back to the circle etched with chalk into the floor of my kitchen. Once more, and if it doesn't work this time, I'm going to shove Al's curse right where it belongs.

My awareness reached out to touch the nearest ley line. Power surged through me and I held my breath, eyes watering as it flowed unchecked, my desire for a quick circle letting the ley line energy fill me with an unusual force. It hurt, but I gritted my teeth and held on while the forces equalized, then I muttered _rhombus, _and a thin sheet of ever-after rose, protecting me in my circle. Once more I set the white candle to my left, the one that protects Ivy's soul while I worked the curse, and a small piece of bone on my right, which is supposed to retain some of Ivy's soul, and release it back to her once the original is extinguished. _Once Ivy dies and loses her soul completely._

Al told me the only reason this curse is so rare is because the piece of bone he gave me is demon bone, very hard to obtain and live long enough to use it. The fact that Al had one should worry me more than it did, but if I could use it to save Ivy's soul then I would. I didn't even care that I now owed Al another favour, and had the mark to prove it. If this worked then it would be well worth it.

I took the dagger sitting next to me and cut my finger, letting the blood drip onto the candle. Then I put the candle in a smaller circle to make sure nothing interfered with the flame I was going to create, and glanced at Ivy once more. Closing my eyes, I repeated the curse quietly in latin. When I opened my eyes, I used my second sight to watch as Ivy's aura began moving towards the piece of bone, not completely separating from her body but slowly seeping from her. All that was left was to light the candle, and once I extinguished the flame, the small part of Ivy's aura would be trapped inside the bone, ready to return to its rightful place as soon as she dies the first time and her soul leaves her body completely. I looked at the candle and taking a deep breath, I lit it with no more than a passing thought.

Ivy laughed as the candle's flame went out. Again.

"What the hell am I doing wrong?" I demanded, rubbing my foot across the chalk line to break the circle. I watched as Ivy's aura rushed back to her body from the bone, proving that I was missing something. Everything worked perfectly until I lit the damned candle, what was I missing?  
"Al probably gave you a fake piece of bone, Rachel, that's why it's not sticking," Ivy said, hopping off the counter. I reached for the bone then jumped as Ivy was suddenly at my side, smirking and with a graceful swoop, she plucked it from the ground.

"Jenks is right, we need to put a bell on you," I muttered as I stood up to stretch, sighing as my back cracked.

"Don't you need to use demon blood or something to invoke the curse?" Ivy asked, frowning as she tried to understand the concept of spellcrafting.

"No my blood is good enough. Maybe I need a certain amount of drops or something, because one drop on the candle just isn't doing the trick..." I said as I reached for Al's curse. My eyes widened as I read the latin, realizing my mistake. Of course it wasn't working, I needed to put the blood on the bone, not the candle! Stupid witch! I never was very good at Latin.

"I got it! Finally! Ivy, get out of the way," I shouted as I pushed Ivy aside so I could set my circle. "I should be putting the blood on the bone, not the candle. Duh!"  
Once again, I repeated the latin required for the curse which was practically second nature to me now. I took the blade, my hands shaking from excitement. _This is it! It's actually going to work this time! _I lit the candle to make sure Ivy's soul would stay protected, and nearly chopping my finger off, I managed to make a small cut and let the blood run down my hand and on to the demon bone. The instant the blood made contact the candle's flame disappeared and I felt something in the air shift. Then because of the curse, I felt the imbalance start to set in, smut encompassing my aura because of the black magic I was doing. _I take it, I take it, _I thought as the burn subsided. It only hurt if I didn't accept it.

When I looked up at Ivy, I froze at the look of shock on her face. I quickly pulled up my second sight to see Ivy's aura, and I panicked when it wasn't just seeping from her like before, but rushing towards the bone, as though the bone was greedily sucking her soul from her body.

"Ivy!" I screamed as I hurried to light the candle again. But it was too late; the wick would not keep the flame. The candle would not protect Ivy's soul.

I looked up as Ivy collapsed to the floor, her eyes closed. I rushed to her side, gasping as I broke my circle and the excess energy burned my chi, but I didn't care about that. Still using my second sight, I could see no trace of Ivy's aura around her, all of it sucked into that bone.  
"Ivy no!" I whispered as I took her into my lap and brushed her hair from her face. "Please don't be dead, I don't know what happened, I'm so sorry."  
Suddenly Ivy's eyes opened. I looked at her in surprise, then hugged her tighter than I ever have, not noticing the black in her eyes or the shift in her stance. Ivy's arms wrapped around my body, returning my hug as I stammered, "Oh I'm so happy you're okay! I thought you were dead. Next time we'll practice on someone else, I can't risk hurting you again."

I felt Ivy's arms tighten around me, and a jolt of fear ran through my body.  
"Oh, I'm better than okay, Rachel," Ivy whispered, tracing her hand from the small of my back to my front, sending another jolt of fear through me. Suddenly she pushed my back to the cold tile floor pinning me there, my arms held above my head as she m ved her face close to mine, eyes blacker than I'd ever seen them. I shuddered as the vamp pheremones she was pumping into the air made my neck tingle.  
"Ivy? Ivy stop. Let me up!" I stammered, but as I tried to talk sense into her, she lowered her head past my neck towards my chest and I squirmed as I tried to get her off me. She was too strong! I couldn't move an inch and the longer she held me there, the less I wanted to get away. When I stopped struggling, Ivy looked back up at me, her teeth glistening as she smiled at me knowingly. I couldn't fight this. She looked at my neck and I quivered as a wave of ecstasy ran from my neck to my groin, wanting so badly for her to sink her teeth into me. I knew my skin, less than a year old and hiding an unclaimed vampire bite, was more tempting to Ivy than if the bite was still visible. Because I was not bound to a vampire, any vampire could play with my scar, sending me into a state of bliss - like Ivy was doing right now.  
"Please," I gasped, not willing to fight her anymore. I wanted this. She needed this. We could do it right this time. One of Ivy's hands came down and she gently grazed my old vampire bite with her fingers, making my back arch with the need for more. "God Ivy, please, I give you this. Take my blood."  
"You give me this?" Ivy asked, and I closed my eyes, nodding.  
"What about this?" She said, and still holding my hands above my head with one hand, Ivy moved her other hand from my neck quickly down to my groin, making my eyes shoot open. She then put her lips on my scar and at the same time gently rubbed me through my pants, a long moan escaping me. Damn it, no! We talked about this! I'm straight, I can't have sex with her just for the euphoria her bite brings. But as she expertly grazed her teeth along my scar, her hand moving back up to rest on my breast, I couldn't say no. My heart pounded as she began to massage my breast with the palm of her hand, her mouth moving away from my scar down towards my chest, so agonizingly slow that I let out a frustrated groan. As her mouth moved closer to my breast, her hand began to move down my stomach towards my groin, this time slipping inside my pants.  
Ivy used her teeth to pull my shirt down exposing my bare nipple, hard from the cold air touching it. _Hard from Ivy's touch. _When she put her mouth on me, her tongue just barely tracing circles around my nipple, a sudden rush of reality hit me as I realized what was going on here. Ivy lost her soul! This wasn't Ivy, this was a mere shadow of who Ivy once was. The Ivy I knew would never use my scar to get her way sexually. Never.

"Ivy stop! Get off me!" I screamed, but her mouth became tight around my nipple with need and her hand rubbing me became harsh, moving faster until I let out another involuntary moan. "I can't give this to you!"

I would not become Ivy's shadow! If she couldn't control herself now when she hasn't even bitten me, how could she maintain control once she actually does bite me? Unless I stopped this now, I would become either bound to Ivy or dead from blood loss. I tried to push her off but she would have none of it. I didn't want to hurt her but if I didn't get her off of me right now I would never get her off, so I reached out to the line and screamed as I threw everything I had at her, the rush of ley line energy hurling Ivy back and slamming her into the fridge. I quickly scrambled up, putting the counter between us as Ivy gathered herself and stood up, leering at me with a seductive smile.  
"What's wrong little witch, can't play with the big boys?" Ivy mocked, moving closer to me with a cat-like grace I hadn't known she possessed. She was so fast and fluent in her motions, and I glanced at the bone that lay forgotten on the floor. Maybe if I break the bone her soul will return to her, but what if I break it and her soul is lost forever? It was a risk I had to take, and as though she knew what I was thinking, Ivy sauntered over to the demon bone and picked it up, looking at it curiously.

"Now why would you want to go and do a silly thing like that?" Ivy asked. "I've never felt more alive or, right. This is who I should be - not bothered by feelings of regret or love or hate, I can just be."

"Ivy, I can fix this, give me the bone and you can be back to your old self, I promise I'll make this better," I pleaded, even as Ivy smiled and began to stride closer to me, her gaze fixed on my neck. With the sudden attention, my neck gave out a pulse of pleasure and I felt my knees buckle as I crumbled to the floor. In an instant Ivy was on me again pulling me to my feet and slamming me against the wall. She dropped the demon bone to the ground and one finger she traced a line from my stomach to my groin, using her nail to break the skin and leave a trail of blood.

I felt her shudder at the sharp scent of my blood and while she was distracted I began pulling on the line in the backyard again, spindling all the ley line energy my chi could hold. Then I threw it at her, a ball of ever-after sending her hurling back. Before I saw her land I reached down for the piece of bone she had left forgotten and slammed it down onto the floor. The demon bone shattered into millions of tiny pieces, and I used my second sight to watch as Ivy's aura race back to her body. Ivy's gaze became unfocused and she closed her eyes, welcoming her aura back and collapsing to the floor, immediately curling into a ball.  
Still hesitant to go near her, I watched Ivy from across the kitchen, looking for some kind of hint that told me whether or not she was back to normal. Ivy looked up at me, tears running down her face.  
"Rachel I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry," she pleaded, a pained expression in her face. "I could have killed you. I would have! I didn't care what you wanted, all I knew was my hunger and my lust."

Checking to make sure her eyes were a healthy shade of brown, I ran over to Ivy and hugged her. "Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault," I said, feeling her shake beneath me in fear of what may have happened here today.  
"I love you, I could never have forgiven myself..." Ivy started, but I quickly shushed her, maintaining my hug and rocking her soothingly.  
"Shh, I love you too Ivy. It's all over now, we made it."

When push comes to shove, we always made it through, as long as we were together.


End file.
